closing a hole in loo floor

[Robin]

Our Jabsco twist 'n lock sits on a sort of raised ledge in the shower/heads. The inlet and outlet pipes both pass through a sort of keyhole shaped cutout hole in the fibreglass floor of the ledge and access around the rear of the bowl an pipework for cleaning is very restricted. When water from a shower finds it's way down the cutout hole for the pipework it takes a devious route to the bilges and even more so to the bilge pump sump. When we had a similar arrangement on a Beneteau Oceanis 36CC in Florida our local loo guru fabricated a cover plate to close off the hole but it would be hard to design /fit something similar here as the access is very difficult. It would be nice to be able to use the shower hose to sluice down and around occasionally without it dripping into bilge When showering too it would remove the need for the claustrophobic encircling shower curtain and even allow a sit down on the loo seat shower with all water going straight to the shower tray from where it can easily be pumped out.

Anyone any ideas? I thought about using expanding foam sealant or even a sort of wetsuit material 'mast coat' cone.

All suggestions gratefully received!

 

[penfold]

If there's enough access to the keyhole and it's tight enough on the hoses you could just close it up with lashings of goo, silicone, polysulphite or one of the newfangled 'not silicone' sealants.

 

[Robin]

If there's enough access to the keyhole and it's tight enough on the hoses you could just close it up with lashings of goo, silicone, polysulphite or one of the newfangled 'not silicone' sealants.

the gap in places is half an inch or 12mm plus and suspect the usual goos will just droop through unles the get plugged with something else first, like crumpled plastic bag when again ease of access is the problem??

 

[john_morris_uk]

Here’s my suggestion:

Cut a bit of matching (or contrasting) sheet material to be an oblong larger than the keyhole shaped holes. Cut it in half lengthways. Now carefully make cutouts so it slides around the hoses and meets together round them.
glue in place with sealant with the sealant finished off around all edges as a nice gasket.

You found even use plywood that you epoxy coat and then paint.

 

[matt1]

Here’s my suggestion:

Cut a bit of matching (or contrasting) sheet material to be an oblong larger than the keyhole shaped holes. Cut it in half lengthways. Now carefully make cutouts so it slides around the hoses and meets together round them.
glue in place with sealant with the sealant finished off around all edges as a nice gasket.

You found even use plywood that you epoxy coat and then paint.

Beat me to it, that would be my suggestion too. You could even chamfer the inside edge of the hole cut outs for the pipe so you could get an annular ring of sealant around them

 

[Robin]

Thanks all I will hunt out some material to scavenge and start whittling, maybe start with a cardboard template.

 

[Daydream believer]

Rather than plywood you might try the side of a white 5 litre plastic container which is nice & thin & easy to cut. Rather than cut in 2 halves you can drill/cut a hole of the correct diameter for the pipe. ( use scissors) Then slit one side of the piece , open it up & fit it round the pipe & spring it back into place.
If the 2 pipes are close together you might be able to mark out & cut both holes & spring it over both of them.
All bedded on sika mastic, Hold the edges down with some tape until the mastic cures. You may find ( do a test glue up first) that sika does not stick the plastic & have to use contact adhesive or similar- I am not sure.

 

[Robin]

Rather than plywood you might try the side of a white 5 litre plastic container which is nice & thin & easy to cut. Rather than cut in 2 halves you can drill/cut a hole of the correct diameter for the pipe. Then slit one side of the piece , open it up & fit it round the pipe & spring it back into place.
If the 2 pipes are close together you might be able to mark out & cut both holes & spring it over both of them.
All bedded on sika mastic

Thanks the two pipes actually touch as they go through the hole so that might work and I have a disused 5 litre container that might cut up nicely, and cheaply.

What a wonderful resource these forums are for brainstorming.

 

[john_morris_uk]

My reason for not suggesting plastic it is that lots of plastic doesn't stick very well! Trying a bit first to test its stickability sounds like a good idea.

 

[Daydream believer]

My reason for not suggesting plastic it is that lots of plastic doesn't stick very well! Trying a bit first to test its stickability sounds like a good idea.

If stickability fails- then try adhesion

 

[Boater Sam]

Would it be easier to build up a raised dam around the hole by gluing say ally angle to the floor? Then you would still have ventilation.

 

[Leighb]

My only caveat is that the process of sealing it up might restrict the movement of the output hose such that it becomes difficult to remove, and especially replace, the pump. On our present boat I had to enlarge the hole around the output hose to allow enough "wriggle room" to refit the pump without a major struggle.

 

[Robin]

My only caveat is that the process of sealing it up might restrict the movement of the output hose such that it becomes difficult to remove, and especially replace, the pump. On our present boat I had to enlarge the hole around the output hose to allow enough "wriggle room" to refit the pump without a major struggle.

which again makes a simple plastic cover with a slit to fit as suggested above a good contender with or without sealant.

 

[Daydream believer]

which again makes a simple plastic cover with a slit to fit as suggested above a good contender with or without sealant.

Yes. The edges could be stuck down with grey duct tape . Not the best of solutions but if not readily visible & done neatly with a decent quailty tape it could be OK & renewable annually. One has to consider cleanliness by a WC though
A couple of round headed self tapping screws may be enough to stop the edges curling. If the plastic used is cut from a container with a slight camber in the side, then the camber can be used to ones advantage to hold the edges down.

 

[Robin]

Yes. The edges could be stuck down with grey duct tape . Not the best of solutions but if not readily visible & done neatly with a decent quailty tape it could be OK & renewable annually. One has to consider cleanliness though
A couple of round headed self tapping screws may be enough to stop the edges curling. If the plastic used is cut from a container with a slight camber in the side, then the camber can be used to ones advantage to hold the edges down.

A splashproof rather than deep depth submerged seal is the ideal

 

[penfold]

Plug the gap with milliput if you're feeling bold or Sugru if not(Sugru is best as the hoses will need replacing at some point) then fair with goo of choice for a smooth easy to clean surface.

the gap in places is half an inch or 12mm plus and suspect the usual goos will just droop through unles the get plugged with something else first, like crumpled plastic bag when again ease of access is the problem??

 

[greeny]

Get some smallish diameter pipe lagging, the type with a split and cut it to length to slip over the existing edges around the cut out. If the wall thickness of the lagging is 12 mm it will close the gap neatly in the large gap areas and squash down where the edge is closer to the pipes. If you manage to do it really neatly then you could just run a bead of domestic silicone sealant (god forbid on a boat) around the edges to seal and keep it in place if needed.

 

[LadyInBed]

Thanks all I will hunt out some material to scavenge and start whittling, maybe start with a cardboard template.

Look around for an old kitchen unit / door /shelf and use the veneer as the cover material.